Biogas Plant Almost Ready as Phase One Comes to a Close

A new £8 million anaerobic digestion (AD) facility in County Durham, UK is only weeks away from completion as the project successfully reaches the end of its first phase of construction and commences commissioning.

With the building of the north east’s first commercial food waste facility at Emerald Biogas nearly finished, the team are now busy planning the second phase after successfully securing a number of feedstock contracts for food waste. The firm is also exploring the potential of biogas injection technology, which will upgrade the biogas to a higher-grade product that can be injected into the local gas grid, plus a vehicle fuel station.

At full capacity, the biogas plant at Newton Aycliffe Industrial Estate will process 50,000 tonnes of food waste per year and generate 1.56 MW of electricity, enough to power 2,000 homes. Phase two of the biogas plant will double the capacity of the facility, allowing up to 100,000 tonnes of food waste to be processed each year and doubling the power generated.

With planning and permits already secured for phase two, as well as two additional phases beyond this, Emerald Biogas (UK) is now putting the wheels in motion and preparing a plan for the additional construction on site.

Adam Warren, Director, Emerald Biogas said: “Despite the difficult winter and the associated problems it brought, we are now ready to begin testing the facility. We are confident that waste processing and energy production will begin in June and therefore we are keen to progress with the second phase.

“The next few months will see a flurry of activity on site as we gear up for phase one to become fully operational. Once at full capacity, we can look forward to creating renewable energy for neighbouring industrial companies and producing quality fertiliser from the digestate for use by the local agricultural community.”

Three partners with a wealth of experience and expertise in agriculture and recycling formed Emerald Biogas in 2009. Owners of food waste collection and animal by-product recycling business John Warren ABP, Antony and Adam Warren have joined forces with Ian Bainbridge, who runs the diverse farming, land and resource management business Agricore. Together their track record in the industry and network of existing clients will help to grow the business and build on their customer base to help achieve their ambitious targets.